Something Around the Corner
by I-Am-Jacks-Smirking-Revenge
Summary: Jackie finds herself in a life altering situation, and, with a little help from her friends, she finds the light in it. EJ, WIP Ch. 4.: Jackie, household chores, a letter and a misunderstanding.
1. She Knew

Something Around the Corner  
_She Knew_

Jackie let out a deep, real sigh. The kind from the place inside you that knew what pain was. Her right hand touched the cold mirror, and the skin of it tingled and stung with the memory of sharp flesh against flesh. She never regretted the gesture more then at that moment. It ate at her.

The hand fell slowly to the white porcelain of the sink, leaving her reflection open. She barely recognized the face before her; broken with panic and tear stained, add to that the slight sweat from her earlier nausea and you had an image that was nothing like what she felt inside. Inside she had found a calm place, somewhere quiet where she only shivered occasionally as the madness brushed past her, seeking her, instead of constantly like her treacherous body now displayed.

Her teeth chattered.

Alright, the strange, echo of her mind said distantly, Alright, what do I do now?

She couldn't very well go to her parents. She suppressed a laugh that quickly turned into a deep tremor through her chest and shoulders. It lasted for a long moment and then subsided. That certainly wasn't constructive at the moment…

There was the Foremans. Mrs. Foreman was a nurse, after all, and although she would be shocked and perhaps disappointed at first, she would be able to help, right? And even though she and Eric were always at each other's thoughts, they were still friends. Nonetheless, the thought of telling the people who were like her second family something so shameful frightened her.

Donna was an option, but Donna was also one of those people who either thought she had to be helpful by telling her boyfriend about it, or telling everyone about it, and seeing as Eric couldn't keep a secret from his mother to save his like, it would be right back to the last option with the discomfort of being the last one to know that they knew.

And then… there was Michael. He would have to know sooner or later. Despite the nasty breakup, he had a right to know. She tried for a moment to imagine how he would react and it made her laugh again, but she stopped before she started shaking.

Finally there was the option. The Option. It hurt to think about it. In fact, it physically hurt to think about it. Her muscles tightened painfully. It hurt mentally to think about it. It made her want to cry just thinking about it. The road without The Option would be a long one.

Nine months long, in fact.

But the road with The Option was longer, stretching on until the end of her very life, and maybe, for all she knew, maybe longer.

The Option was not and option.

She found herself suddenly in a very dark place. And somehow, somehow, it was a comfort. In this dark place, as she looked on, there was a tiny pinprick of bright, penetrating light.

She moved her hand from the sink basin to her stomach, and the panic turned to turmoil, which turned to a frenzy, which, for one brief flicker of a moment, was pure happiness.

to be continued


	2. Give Me

Something Around the Corner  
_Give Me_

_forty nine hours, twenty three minutes and eighteen seconds earlier…  
the Foremans' basement…_

Jackie sashayed though the door, at the very moment defining the word "sashayed". Warning bells went off in Michael Kelso's head. Eric looked up once, then went back to staring blankly at the TV set. Hyde grinned from his chair and settled back to watch the show; it was easily like seeing a train wreck just waiting to happen.

"Um, hey, Jackie," she smiled prettily at him, and he swallowed nervously, "Did you get a new haircut?"

The smile faltered a bit.

"Oh, no, now that I see it, it's definitely the same, and just a beautiful as ever!" He thought frantically as he looked her over, "That is a gorgeous new dress you're wearing!"

The smile fell a bit more, "Michael, this is the dress you bought me last week."

He began to gnaw nervously at his lower lip, "Oh, right, yeah… But those are… great… new… shoes?"

The smile disappeared.

Eric rolled his eyes. This was getting embarrassing. "It's her birthday, moron," he said quietly in a singsong voice.

Michael's face froze for a moment in time, and then quickly recovered. He leaped up deftly, grabbing her by the waste and swinging her around once. "Of course I remembered your birthday!" She looked at him doubtfully, but he continued without hesitation, "Let me go grab your present!"

"Oh, really, Michael?" Her eyes filled up with tears, "You got me a present? You really remembered?"

"Jackie," Kelso said with false patience, "Of course I remembered your birthday." And with that he kissed her and then walked with timed steps to the door, grabbed his coat, and exited. The three watched though the window as, the moment the door closed, Kelso shot up the stairs like a bullet.

Jackie, undaunted, sat down on the couch.

Eric and Hyde looked at her for a moment.

"He forgot, didn't he?"

"Of course he did."

Jackie sighed and smoothed out the fabric of her dress. It really was nice. White, lacey, with a red sash. Eric watched her carefully.

"Anyway, Jackie, me an' Hyde got you presents."

Her head shot up in surprise. "What?"

"Uh, well, you've been talking about this for about a month, so we figured we might be in trouble if we didn't."

The smile was suddenly back on her face, and Eric had to concentrate hard not to blush.

Hyde presented her unceremoniously with a thin, rectangular shaped box. She ripped off the newspaper wrapping quickly and pulled the lid of the cardboard off.

She pulled out a pair of very suggestive, red underwear. "Um…. Thanks, Hyde."

Hyde chuckled and Eric whipped around to glare at him.

"You told me you got her something nice!"

"They are nice, man."

Eric looked down at the small box in his hand and winced. Jackie looked at him expectantly. He grudgingly handed her the box.

Jackie, made curious by his behavior, opened the box carefully. Her eyes widened upon seeing what was inside.

"Oh…"

She pulled out the small circular locket on the false gold chain and felt her heart began to pound.

"Er… I just remembered that day when you said that about your grandmother… and I knew Kelso wouldn't get it for you, he's so thick…"

She remembered that day, too. Walking through downtown with Michael, Eric tagging along with them. She had known at the time that Michael didn't often have a lot of money to spend, and with her birthday in mind, she kept throwing suggestions at him. So far she had pointed out a nice pair of shoes and a beautiful five dollar pair of elbow long white gloves that would go perfectly with her most formal dress. He seemed passive about everything that she said so far. Suddenly, her eye caught something in the window and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh, Michael!" She gasped. The gold locket winked at her conspiratorially through the window, as though it had meant to catch her attention at that moment. And it must have, because she had walked past this store at least a thousand times and never once noticed it. "That necklace!"

"Um… yeah?" he asked quizzically, glancing once at Eric who shrugged.

"It's exactly like the one my grandmother used to wear! She always told me she'd give it to me someday because I loved it so much. But then she died and my aunt took it and pawned it off at some shop in New York. I was so sad, I never thought I'd see it again."

Michael nodded, putting an arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him.

"It's just what I want," she said very clearly, "And very inexpensive."

"Okay…" He replied, slow as ever, "You wanna go in and buy it?"

Jackie pursed her lips and glared at him, "No, I'm sure _someone_ is going to _buy it for me_ for my _birthday_," she said, emphasizing certain words loudly.

"Oh, right, okay," and they continued their walk.

Jackie bit the inside of her lip, holding back real tears. She had gone back to the shop about a week ago to find that the necklace was gone. She had hoped that Michael had bought it for her, and then, as the week progressed, and, finally, as her suspicions that he had forgotten were confirmed, she had lost hope that she would really ever get to have that beautiful thing, like her grandmother had promised.

This was… a strange awakening. She had never known that Eric had cared for her at all, and when she finally found out, it was a gesture like this that made her realize. What was she missing out on? Dating a guy like Michael Kelso based solely on looks. Why not someone like Eric, who remembered your birthday and what you wanted for it, and to say I Love You for things other then wanting sex?

"Eric, I… don't know what to… say…"

"Hey, look, just don't, don't say anything, okay?" Eric was blushing furiously while Hyde looked on in amusement. "I was going to give it to Kelso to give to you, but me an' Hyde thought it'd be funny to see him panic like that, so…"

She wanted to kiss him. And she honestly might have if Michael hadn't burst through the door at that very moment, panting, red faced and holding a badly wrapped box.

He approached Jackie and handed her the gift, "H-h-here…" he heaved.

Pulling at the over taped wrapping paper took quite some time, but she eventually threw the last bit on the ground and pulled the lid open. She leaned back against the sofa and sighed. Eric, who could see into the box as well, closed his eyes as though in pain. Hyde waited curiously for what he knew would be the punch line.

Kelso grinned, "I though it would be a present we could both enjoy."

Jackie put her hand in the box and withdrew the exact same pair of red panties that she had just received. Hyde howled with laughter.

"You like 'em?" Kelso grinned from ear-to-ear, and suddenly Jackie was enraged. Before she even knew what was happening, her hand was swinging through the air, seeming, to her, to be in slow motion. She was able to think several very clear thoughts before her hand met its destination.

_He forgets my birthday, and then this?_

_That bastard! Today was supposed to be my day!_

_How could he? How could he how could he how could he!_

_That gift was more sincere from Hyde!_

_Why can't he be more like Eric!_

And with that, the slap resounded across the basement, greeted by shocked silence.

Fuming, Jackie stood up, turned her back on Michael and gathered both Eric and Hyde's gifts. "Thank you for the presents, you guys." She did another 180 degree turn and threw Michael's present in his face. "Michael, it is over between us." And with that, she stormed out of the basement.

Later that day she received the dressy pair of gloves she'd wanted from Donna, and Fes had apologetically told her that he hadn't been sure what she'd wanted, so he'd gotten her a funny card instead. She liked it. Two days later she would realize that even though spats like that hardly mattered compared to real life, even if her boyfriend was an idiot at least she knew she had good friends.

TBC


	3. Goodbye

Something Around the Corner  
_Goodbye_

The silence in the Vista Cruiser was beginning to bore Jackie. At first she had been tense, nervous and worried about this revelation, but after they had been sitting together without saying a word for almost ten minutes, Burkhart the cheerleader in her just couldn't sit here doing nothing for much longer. She shifted slightly, then looked out the window, then looked back over at him.

He was still shock white. She wondered briefly if he had died or something, but she could see his chest moving barely, so she didn't worry. As quietly as she could, she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a stick of gum. She slipped it between her teeth and slowly started chewing it. She popped the gum loudly and Eric almost jumped out of his seat.

"Jackie!"

"What! I can't sit here forever, you know."

He started tapping rapidly on the steering wheel. "Okay. Okay. Okay. So-so you're… you're…"

Jackie nodded encouragingly. The sooner he came to grips with reality, the sooner she could talk him into driving her somewhere fun, "That's right. You don't have to say it, Eric, but yes, I am."

"You're… pregnant." His face went white again and Jackie kicked the dash board to snap him out of it.

"Come on, Eric, this doesn't effect you at all! Why do you have to freak out about it?"

"Why aren't you!"

Jackie shrugged, "I was, until now. Now I'm just bored."

"Okay… so… Who else have you told?"

She fiddled with her hair slightly, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer, "uh, well… no one…"

Eric slumped. "Well then why did you have to tell me!" His voice was starting to get high and squeaky, and he was doing that thing where he had panic attacks for other people. Jackie hated that, and yet it felt nice to be the one he was doing for.

"Well… I had to tell someone, I've kept it to myself for a week. And, I'm going to tell my parents tonight, but... You can imagine how that conversation is going to go. I would've told Donna, but she'd go and tell Michael, and I have to be the one to tell him. And I would never have told Hyde or Fez…" she shuddered just thinking of it. "You were really my only option."

Eric looked sulky, but he didn't argue further.

He looked at her once, then turned to stare forward. "Jackie, you seem to be taking this pretty well."

She snorted slightly, "You should have seen me all last week. I was a wreck. But what's done is done, you know? I can't change the past and there's no point in stressing about something that can't be changed."

"Okay, now you just sound irresponsible," he said, starting to panic again. But when he looked at her face, he knew she was more worried then she was letting on. Her eyes were darker then usual and there were dark circles beneath them. "Look, Jackie, you can tell me if you're worried. You know that, right?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Drive me somewhere, okay?"

He shook his head and rolled his eyes, but a laughed a little. Turning the keys in the ignition, he turned to her and asked gently, "Where you wanna go?"

She sighed and rolled down her window, "Just drive, okay?"

Five minutes later she was fast asleep.

Later that night, after waking up in Laurie Forman's bed, Jackie went home with a lump in her throat that felt like the size of Texas. She was almost surprised to find that she was dismayed when she found both of her parents home at home in the living room.

"Oh, Jackie, dear, there you are!" Her mother, wine glass in one hand, kissed her on both cheeks.

"Hello, Jackie, sweetheart," Her father said warmly, a tinge of worry entered his voice as he inquired, "Have you been getting enough sleep, honey? You look tired."

"Hello, mama. I'm fine daddy." She swallowed. They'd have to find out sooner or later. "There's something I have to tell you. You might want to sit down." Jackie sat, but neither of her parents did. "Okay. A couple weeks ago, I realized that I was… I was… late…"

Her father looked confused, but her mother fell onto the couch suddenly with a 'whump'. "Oh, no…"

Jackie nodded, "I went to the clinic last week, and I found out that I'm… I'm pregnant, daddy." Jackie sighed. That happened very quickly, more quickly then she'd have liked it to. Her mother downed the contents of her glass in one gulp.

Mr. Burkhart sighed, then reached down and drew his daughter into an embrace, "There, there sweety, that's okay. Daddy'll make this better… I know a doctor who's very confidential about this sort of thing. We'll have this whole business sorted out by next Monday at the latest."

"Um, what?" Jackie asked, pulling away, "Daddy, I want to keep the baby."

He chuckled and shook his head, "Jackie, this is a decision that needs to be made by an adult."

"No, daddy…" Jackie's voice was starting to get squeaky, reminding her sharply of Eric. "No."

The smile faded from her father's face. "Jackie, I am a very important man, you know. I have an image that I need to keep, or else I won't even stand a chance in the election next fall."

"I know, and I'm sorry, daddy," Jackie took a deep breath and looked at her mother, who still seemed dazed, "But I'm keeping this baby."

"You are going to do as you're told, young lady," the said with the tone of finality. As though he had the last word concerning her body, concerning her child…

Fear suddenly filled her. Could he force her to… to have an abortion? No, he couldn't possibly, but… She had seen him make things happen in ways that… well, in ways that they weren't supposed to talk about. She thought about two months down the road, walking down the stairs, maybe, and maybe, god forbid, maybe feeling hands pressing into her back and falling… or drugs. He could drug her and have the operation without her consent.

Her father would never do that to her. That's what Jackie said. The Jackie inside her said, daddy would never do that to me, he loves me.

A new voice inside her wasn't so sure, as she looked up at his angry eyes.

"I'm leaving," she said suddenly, then realized she shouldn't have said that. She turned around and darted up the stairs. When she reached her room, she locked the door behind her and pulled a suitcase out from her closet. She piled clothes into it, and then looked around the room. She loathed the idea of leaving everything behind, but she couldn't take everything with her.

She looked at her unicorns, and her posters and pictures… they were all a little babyish, but… they were all her. Her chest hurt when she thought about never seeing them again.

Finally, she grabbed a framed picture of her and the 'gang' in front of the Forman's house at Christmas, and, as a last second decision, the locket Eric had gotten her.

Her father knocked at the door and said 'Jackie' in that placating way she hated. She closed her suitcase and surveyed the room one last time before turning to climb out her window.

Rain started to hit the side of the house as she shimmied down the drainpipe, and as she reached the ground, she saw her mother standing behind one of the water streaked windows with a fresh glass of wine. Even as she wondered if she'd been seen, she saw her mother raise her glass in her direction and then shoo her on. Jackie stopped once at the side walk to wave goodbye before running as fast as she could in the direction of the Forman's house.


	4. Blue Days

Something Around the Corner  
_Blue Days_

When Jackie reached the Forman's, she was soaked through, and the house was dark. She crept quickly around the side of the house to the basement door, which always seemed to be unlocked. It was, and she slipped through to the slightly warmer temperatures, kicking off her shoes quietly and setting her suitcase down. After listening at Hyde's door for the heavy, even breathing that meant he was asleep, she peeled off her shirt and skirt and raided a basket of clean laundry. She found Eric's plaid pajama shirt and pulled it on. It fell halfway down her thighs.

Bone weary, Jackie pulled out the extra blanket she knew was kept in the basement closet and then promptly fell asleep.

The next day she woke at noon. She only just barely made it up the basement stairs to the closest bathroom, where she emptied the contents of her stomach, which weren't much. The house was empty. Red and Kitty would be at work and Eric and Hyde at school. She wondered if Hyde had noticed her on the couch, but she doubted it. He would never have passed up an opportunity like that to play some trick on her.

The thought made her check the bathroom mirror quickly for pen marks or anything else just as immature. All that stared back at her was her own face, framed by a nightmare of frizzy hair. Sighing, she picked up a brush and began to work the knots out of her hair.

She stopped halfway through, realizing how hopeless it was. She left and sat in the living room and had a good cry for almost a half an hour. Afterwards, she felt a lot better, as only a good cry could make you feel. The day looked a little brighter, and she noticed the healthy rumbling in her stomach and made herself a sandwich, which she ate while watching Perry Mason in the living room.

With a full stomach and at least two hours of a house to herself, Jackie found herself with nothing to do. She didn't want to go downtown incase her father had people looking for her. So, for the first half hour she set about doing little chores, which was unlike her, but she was restless and running on a decent number of hours sleep. She folded the clothes downstairs and scrubbed the counters in the kitchen and bathroom until they shone. Then, knowing that Mrs. Forman had changed the vacuuming day to Tuesday, she took the liberty of doing it for her, though she noticed that she did a poor job. She had never vacuumed before, after all.

She flopped down on the couch after she was done. Mrs. Forman was good at housekeeping and Jackie still had two hours to burn. She tried watching TV again, but there was nothing good on. Then she tried reading, but all she could find were books about wars, or books about pirates with a lot of dirty innuendo, or all of Eric's books about Star Wars.

Whilst rummaging through Eric's room for any decent pastime, she came across some paper, and an idea struck her. She grabbed the pile and a pencil and headed back down to the basement.

Taking the pencil, she thought for a moment, then began to write.

If Eric hadn't decided to use the basement door to enter the house, it might have been hours before he discovered Jackie laying fast asleep on a pile of papers. When he pulled them gently out from beneath her, he noticed writing on them, but he didn't read, in respect for Jackie's privacy. He set them neatly on top of the dryer, then laid a blanket over the top of her and allowed himself to sigh in relief. He had been worried when he hadn't seen her at school.

Without thinking, he reached down and brushed a lock of hair off her face.

God, she's beautiful…

What! No, no, no! We talked about this! You do not have feeling for Jackie!

Who said I had feelings for Jackie? And stop referring to yourself as 'we', that's probably how crazy people think.

Yeah, probably. But that's not the point! The point is that you … we… you! should stop thinking things like that about Jackie. You're dating Donna. You love Donna.

Uh huh. And Kelso would kill me, too…

Yes, that too.

But it's only looking! It's not like we're doing anything. Hell knows she'd never be caught dead with someone like me, no matter the circumstances.

That's not the point, either! No thinking, no looking, no nothing! Just, no Jackie, okay!

Okay.

Okay. God, I really need to stop talking to myself…

Then Eric saw the badly folded clothes on top of the dryer. He turned to look back down at her, wondering briefly how long she'd been there if she'd been desperate enough to clean. Then he saw the suitcase leaning against the wall. Before he could think what to make of it, the door opened and Hyde walked in, dropping his books onto the floor.

"Oh, she's still sleeping?" he asked, motioning toward Jackie.

"Still?" Eric repeated.

"Yeah, man, she was here this morning," he explained, "She looked pretty bad, so I left her alone. You know what she's doing here?"

Eric looked down at her again, "Yeah, I think so. Look, could you just let her sleep? Don't bug her or anything?"

Hyde loathed to let an opportunity as golden as this one pass by, especially as she was looking so much better now, but he agreed, if only because Eric looked so serious about it.

It was only a moment after the boys left that the basement door opened again. This time Donna walked through, and, not at first seeing Jackie, she assumed the room was empty. Walking around behind the couch, her eye caught sight of the papers on the dryer. Curiosity getting the better of her, she picked up a page and read a line.

_…I know this won't be easy for us, having to sneak around behind their backs, but I just want you to know, I love you, and I always will…_

Donna stopped reading quickly and set the paper back down, her heart thumping hard in her chest. What was that about? Her fingers itched to pick the paper up again and read again, but she was too afraid to. That sounded like… someone was having a secret relationship in the group?

Her eyes were wide. What if it was Eric, a little voice in the back of her head challenged. What if he's cheating on you? Eric had been acting strangely at school that day, almost like he was hiding something from her. She could always tell when Eric was lying.

She pushed the thought out of her head. Yeah, right. Who would Eric cheat on her with, anyway? Right.

She turned and practically jumped out of her skin at the sight of Jackie laying, asleep on the couch. According to Hyde, she and Kelso had just had a pretty nasty breakup, only last week. Why would Jackie be here if she wasn't dating Kelso anymore?

Thoughts flooded her head. The letter. Jackie, here. Eric hiding something from her.

Donna took a deep breath and calmed herself. She'd just read the rest of the letter, and then she'd know, right? But just as she started reading again, she heard a noise from upstairs. She panicked and put the paper back before exiting the way she had come.

The last thing she had read on the paper made her heart ache.

_…Donna, and especially Michael, don't know…_

The door clicked behind her.

Eric came down later that night with a plate of food. Jackie was awake and had the papers in front of her again. She looked up when he came in and grinned.

"Oh, food!" She said, taking the plate from him, "I'm starving, thanks."

He sat and watched her eat for a few minutes, before asking, "So, were you gonna tell me what's going on?"

She slowed and looked down for a second, then raised her eyes to his, "My dad wants me to get an abortion. Because of the election."

Eric gaped at her. He couldn't imagine parents who'd push for an abortion.

"So, I left."

"Wow, Jackie…" he knew, for Jackie, the spoiled, sheltered cheerleader, that couldn't have been easy, "That was really brave of you."

"I didn't really have much of a choice, you know?" Her eyes filled with tears, "I couldn't let something like that happen. I only need to stay until I find a place of my own. I'll just sleep on the couch down here and stay out of your way, okay?"

"No, no way," Eric shook his head frantically, "We'll talk to my parents, okay? Laurie's hardly ever home, you can stay in her room."

Tears spilled out of the corners of her eyes, "Really?" She squeaked.

"Well, yeah," he assured her quietly.

She leaped at him suddenly and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thank you…"

Eric, unsure of what to do, patted her clumsily on the head.

She moved away after a minute and they sat in a surprisingly comfortable silence.

"I noticed you kept yourself busy today," Eric teased, "Imagine, Jackie Burkhart doing chores."

"I was bored," Jackie defended.

"I figured. What's that you're writing?"

"You want to read it?"

"Uh, sure," Eric accepted the papers from her.

_Dear Troy or Rhiannon,_

He arched a brow at her, but she hushed him and he continued reading,

_Hi. I guess I'm your mommy. I just wanted to let you know a few things, before the big day comes. I figure someday when you're older you'll read this and we can laugh, or cry about it together. First I want to tell you about me._

My name is Jacqueline Buela Burkhart. I'd appreciate it if you didn't repeat my middle name to anyone. My father is Mayor of Point Place, Wisconsin, and, as you can imagine, I grew up well 'privileged'. Some people might say I've been spoiled. I think that's pretty much over, now, though.

Your father, Michael Kelso, is a very handsome man. And he means well, even if he's not very bright or sensitive. I don't know how much he's going to be around for you, but it's important that you know that about him. Deep down, he's a good guy.

Your grandparents… you might not see much of them, either. You see, because I'm so young, they don't want me to keep you. I'm sorry to say that in a different time, perhaps if I'd been more responsible, they would have loved you and spoiled you just like they spoiled me.

I don't have any brothers or sisters, but I'm happy to say that you'll have plenty of uncles, and an aunt, too. Your Uncle Hyde is mean, but I bet you'll learn some fun pranks from him. Uncle Fez might be a little strange, but he'll probably always have candy for you, even if he's not happy to give it up. Your Uncle Eric will probably still be a big dork, but I bet you can always count on him to be there for you, just like I always have. Your Aunt Donna will be a good friend if you're Rhiannon, or a very good influence if you're Troy. She's the person to go to when you need to talk about me behind my back, which I'm sure you never will, or at least never so that I find out about it.

For the next nine months, I know this won't be easy for us, having to sneak around behind their backs, but I just wanted you to know, I love you and I always will.

Yes, at the moment, Fez, Hyde, Donna and Especially Michael, don't know about you. Your Uncle Eric, does, though, and he's been so nice about it. Your grandparents haven't been so kind, but time may change that.

I'm sorry I had to bring you into my life at a time like this, when it's going to be so hard for both of us, but we have good people on our side, and I think we're going to make it.

Please be patient with me,  
Your loving mother,  
Jackie Burkhart

Eric looked at Jackie in what seemed to be a new light. He had never known that she could be nice, and sensitive before.

"Jackie, that was… it was beautiful. And thank you, for what you said about me."

"It… it wasn't too short? I'm not very good at writing letters," she said, tugging at her hair in nervous embarrassment.

Eric smiled sincerely, "It was perfect."

She smiled back and hugged him, and this time he returned it. Just at that moment, the door burst open and Donna and Kelso barged in, catching the two in each other's arms.


End file.
